For 30 years now, Scott’s On-farm Services in Comber, Co Down have been leading the way in their core business of Cattle Hoof Trimming and Freeze Branding. Irish Tractor & Agri caught up with company owner Brian Scott to find out all about his company which are sole UK and Ireland agents for the SOS Cow Pacifier, and main agents for Anka Hydraulic Hoof Trimming Crushes.

After working on farms in Australia and New Zealand in the early 1980’s, Brian Scott decided to set up his own farm services company, and his primary ethos was based on the customers’ needs coming first.

Scott’s On-farm Service was the first to offer a professional hoof trimming service in Northern Ireland in 1985.

Since then, the entire team at Scott’s On-farm Services has been committed to meeting those needs and, as a result, a high percentage of their business is from repeat customers and referrals.

“Our core business was and still is cattle hoof trimming and freeze branding,  but since then we’ve diversified into things like training professional hoof trimmers, farmers and farm staff, and supplying the best equipment available, to enable jobs to be carried out safely for both animals and operators.” explained Brian.

“In our Hoof Trimming Courses we operate the “Dutch five-step method” and we show them how to go through each step, so that they can lift a foot and know how to trim with confidence. Most of the professional trimmers and even some vets in Northern Ireland have been trained by us, and lots of farmers have been on our courses also.”

SOS Cow Pacifiers are another relatively new aspect of the business which has taken off with huge success, as they’ve proven fantastic for breaking in heifers  in the milking parlour and getting cows to stop kicking, plus any work on udders, feet and head is made a lot safer for animals and people.

A fresh calved heifer can be trained in a few days to stand without the need for kick bars or ropes. It keeps the milking routine very calm and quiet and as heifers suffer no pain or discomfort it doesn’t stop them coming into the parlour. They will quite happily eat their meal while the Pacifier is used on them. Therefore you don’t get the “row from hell” coming in at the end of milking.

Over 400 Pacifiers have been sold to date, including about two dozen sold to dairy farmers with Robotic milking systems. If you go near a heifer in a Robot with a kick bar it’s the first thing will put her off wanting to come back to get milked. Because the Pacifier is completely pain-free it doesn’t keep them from entering the Robot, and only a few uses are needed to train them.

It also stimulates milk letdown, so there’s no need for injections, and you only need to save one misbehaving heifer and the costs are recovered.
The Pacifier can also be used on suckler cows to get them to stand for putting extra calves to them or for any treatments such as mastitis control. It’s also great for helping with branding, dehorning and especially castrations. You can even get the animal to lift its leg while the procedure is carried out. No need for anyone holding tails!!

The Pacifier makes many tasks a one-man-job!!

Basically any reason the animal needs to stand relatively still, the Pacifier will enable treatments to be carried out safely and quietly for all concerned.
At the moment, hundreds of these units are being used throughout the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Canada, America and South Africa.
“We sell all over, including the UK and Ireland, Latvia and Poland more recently, as well,” said Brian.

On average, Scott’s On-farm Services treat approximately 15,000 cows per year, using the latest hydraulic crushes for comfort and safety of cattle. Preventative trims and treatment of lame cows and Demotec Easy Blocs used to alleviate pain and aid recovery.

We are main agents for Anka Hydraulic Hoof Trimming Crushes but also buy and sell all makes of trimming crushes from basic farmer’s models at £500 to professional contractor’s models at over £30,000. We source a lot of crushes from mainland UK and normally have a few in stock at any time. If anyone is looking for a crush and let us know their budget and type of crush we will do our best to find one. On a recent trip to the UK a Wopa 51 was supplied tom a farmer in Scotland and a Wopa and GDS crush were brought back from southern England.

In the very near future we intend making our own range or trimming crushes, based on our 3o years of experience as a professional hoof trimmer.
They use the best equipment, tools and accessories on the market to offer a world class service to keep cows mobile and pain-free. As a result, a high percentage of their business is from repeat customers and referrals, which is what every company strives for.

At the moment, business has been “kept steady”, according to Brian, with the downturn in milk prices playing its part, as he explained:
“The downturn in milk prices has affected most businesses. Some farmers aren’t doing as much trimming because the milk cheques aren’t as big at the moment. The more proactive farmers are still doing preventative trimming as “lame cows are costly”. An average cost of a lame cow can cost the farmer as much as £250 in lost milk, antibiotics, lost condition and subsequent fertility problems. One cull cow pays for a whole lot of trimming!!

“Herds have become bigger and bigger and lameness is becoming more of a problem for farmers. The average farm now consists of 200 cows, whereas when I started in 1985 the average herd was probably around 50 cows. As herds have become larger, most farmers haven’t the time or the proper equipment to carry out their own hoof trimming. This is where the services of a professional trimmer are invaluable. We can trim whole herds in a day or so, or smaller numbers of lame cows in a short time.”

“I started running hoof trimming courses in Northern Ireland over 25 years ago, initially to train our own staff. Since then we have trained well over 200 trimmers and farmers all over Ireland. We’ve had plenty coming up from the south to do it – even as far as Cork.”

Brian’s expertise is something that his regular customers have always appreciated; hence why they continue to come back.

“We still have customers that we’ve been going to from the very beginning and we’ve seen some changes in that time. Cow numbers have increased but the labour numbers haven’t and some places have a one-man unit with over 150 cows.”

Crushes are another successful portion of the company, which is a main agent for Anka Crushes in Ireland. They also buy and sell used crushes and offer training courses (from 1 day basic to 5 day professional) for farmers, staff and people wishing to pursue a career in the cattle foot care industry.

Scott’s On-farm Services have trained hundreds of people and former students of their hoof care courses are now working in various locations around the world.

Brian can be contacted at any time for advice on 0044 7808 192952.

Email: [email protected]

Or check out the website: www.soshoofcare.com

Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 1, January 2016